Trampled Flowers
by Rosamanelle
Summary: Life. She hated it. Every time she held something dear, life cruelly stripped it away from her. Isolation was her only comfort. And now, even that is not enough. He doesn't know of her hardships. He forcibly lets the sunshine into her jaded heart. But will she accept or refuse his light? Rated T to be safe. Love y'all! Chu - Rosamanelle


Me: Hello everyone! I said I was going to write a one shot, no? Just saying, the characters will probably be OOC because I wrote the one shot before the poll was finished and just added the names later :P And everyone is human in this story!

Raven: So, what did your poll say?

Eve: According to the results, the winning pairing was myself and Elsword.

Aisha: :O REALLY?!

Elsword: *blushes* WHY US!? EVE, HOW ARE YOU CALM ABOUT THIS?!

Eve: I have no emotions.

Me: Hey, the readers chose, not me! Anyways, this is going to be a sad one shot.

Chung: A sad one shot? Not a gory, horrific one?

Me: *shakes head* Yes Chung, this one will be sad. I was listening to a really sad song the other day, and then I got inspired to write this one shot.

Rena: Well then, if that song moved you to tears, let's hope this is a good one shot~

Aisha: Don't mess this up, Rosa!

Me: Okay, okay. The classes will be:

Elsword: Rune Slayer, age 17

Eve: Code Battle Seraph, age 17

Enjoy the one shot everyone~! Also, it's just the appearance, not the skills! Plus, I gave them human last names, so no complaining!

* * *

**Trampled Flowers**

_"No one remembers the names of the forgotten trampled flowers..."_

* * *

Eve blew warm air into her hands, her silver hair falling slightly in front of her eyes, obscuring their golden gaze. She stared sadly at the gray tombstone, fluffy flakes of snow drifting around her, falling to the ground. _What a cruel world, _she thought. _To take away everything that I ever loved. _Eve bent down, gently brushing the snow off of the gravestone, tears falling silently down her frostbitten cheeks. "Hello again, Father... It's cold out today, isn't it?" Wiping the tears out of her eyes, Eve placed a bouquet of lilies in front of the grave, bowing respectfully before leaving. She stared at her feet, seeing the pure white snow become dirtied and tainted by the mud and pollution of the city. Although Elder city was colorful and bright, Eve felt her heart numbing, the colors and the lights seeming to mock her as the entire city - no, the entire world - prepared for Christmas. Eve sighed. Why did her father have to die? Why did that crazy kidnapper have to steal away that child? Why did her father have to be put on the police squad that found the kidnapper and his hostage? Most of all, why did the kidnapper have to shoot her father? Eve was orphaned now. Her mother died a long time ago of an incurable disease. Why her? Did life itself hold a grudge against her? Shaking her head, Eve tried to drive the thoughts out of her head, plastering a fake smile on her face. "I have school..." Trudging back to her apartment, Eve stared at a child with his father and mother. The child looked so happy, so bright and cheerful, and it pained Eve's heart to look at them. Taking the lift up to her room, Eve unlocked her apartment door, looking at the dingy, small, musty apartment. The orphanage had told her to just get an apartment for herself because she was old enough. Eve sighed, checking her schedule. "Good, I don't have work today." Walking over to her desk, Eve picked up a textbook, opening it. She was immediately greeted by an irritatingly tough algebra problem that she had no idea how to solve.

_There is only one solution to each algebraic expression. Find the value of c. _

_a) x^2 - 4x + c = 0_

Eve ran a hand through her hair, thoroughly frustrated. "What the heck?!" Sighing, Eve stared at the textbook for a few more minutes, wracking her brains until her eyelids began to drift downwards. Before she knew it, Eve was fast asleep, head resting lightly on the still open textbook.

Waking up with a foggy brain and a furiously ringing alarm clock, Eve sat straight up in her chair. "God dammit! I'm going to be late for school!" Dumping all of her books in her book bag, Eve ran out of her apartment, locking the door behind her, and ran towards the school. Tripping over her feet, Eve clumsily stumbled into the classroom, her elbow connecting with her desk painfully as she practically tossed her bag on the ground. The class laughed at her, and Eve felt her cheeks beginning to heat up. Tugging her sweater closer to her body, Eve carefully shook her head, letting her hair fall into her eyes, obscuring her face. Sitting down quietly, the teacher, the third one this year, walked in, a binder and some files neatly tucked under one arm. Flicking brown hair out of her face, she stared at them with golden hued eyes. "My name's Stella. Ms. Stella to you. From now on, I'll be teaching you. Understood?" The class nodded, chatting eagerly. Eve simply stared at the teacher through her bangs, wanting class to start already so she could disappear into a flood of homework. Stella cleared her throat. "Attention, class. As I am new here, I do not know your names, so when you answer a question, I will ask you to state your name, loudly and clearly. Got it?" Eve nodded slightly, acknowledging that she had heard Stella. Stella slammed a fist against the chalkboard. "Now, I understood you had homework last night. Get it out now." As Eve rummage through her bag for her work, Stella wrote down on the board the very question she was having so much trouble with. "You with the gold eyes and silver hair! Over by the window." Eve's head jerked up, nodding to say that she heard her. Seeing the nod, Stella pointed to the board. "What's you name? Anyway, come and solve this problem." Eve swallowed, cursing her bad luck. "M-My name... is Eve... Eve Steele." Her voice cracked. "I'm not... sure of how to answer that question..." Stella nodded. "Well then, Ms. Steele, make sure you pay attention when we solve it." Eve nodded, turning her eyes down, uncomfortable with keeping eye contact for so long.

Stella sighed, and focused in on a boy with flaming hair and crimson eyes, who seemed to be fiddling with a phone. "You with the red hair and red eyes who isn't paying attention!" He looked up for a split second. "What?" Stella narrowed her eyes, tapping the board. "State your name first, young man, and then come answer this." He sighed. "I'm Elsword Thorne." Standing up, Elsword walked over to the board, carrying himself with such confidence that Eve envied him. _He doesn't know... The true horrors of the world have never touched him before... If he knew what it was really like out there, he wouldn't be so prideful..._ Elsword picked up a piece of chalk, and Eve watched him quickly write down the answer.

_x^2 - ax + a^2/4 = 0 = (a - a/2)^2 = 0 = x = a/2_

_x^2 + 4x + 4 = 0 = (x + 2)^2 = 0_

_c = 4_

Stella blinked. "That's right..." She smiled. "I guess you do pay attention in class, Mr. Thorne. You may sit." As Elsword made his way back to his seat, his eyes flicked over to Eve. Eve caught sight of his small glance, and quickly lowered her head further, letting more of her silvery hair fall in her face. Elsword sighed quietly, sitting back down in his seat. Throughout the entire day, Eve kept her head low, book bag clutched tightly to her chest, trying to make herself as small as possible through the hallways of the school. In science, Eve retracted herself into a corner and did all of her homework there. Surprisingly, Elsword was in most of her classes, although she ignored him the entire time, like everyone else did with her. And no one seemed to bother her. Isolation was Eve's only way of shutting off the pain, even if it was only temporary. She felt like any connection with the outside world would drive her insane, reminding her of what she once had, what had been stolen away from her. Sometimes, even eating felt like it was too much for her. Eve was glad that there were no uniforms in her school, that way she could hide herself in baggy clothing, anything that stopped her from being noticed. Even though Eve was drowning in her own despair, she never considered suicide. Even though she hated the world and its cruelty with every fiber of her body, somewhere deep inside of her, Eve never let go of that glimmer of hope that _something _good might happen to her, something to make life worth living happened. Eve sighed, shaking away the thoughts from her head, drawing a mildly interested glance from Elsword.

"Hey, you're Eve Steele, right?" he said. She averted her golden gaze, suddenly finding her desk extremely interesting. "Well?" Eve nodded gently. Elsword rolled his eyes. "Did something terrible happen to you? That's gotta be at least the thirtieth time you've sighed today. Lighten up." Eve felt her lower lip begin to tremble. "You don't know a thing," she whispered. Elsword looked surprised. "What d'you mean by that? I know lots of things." Eve shook her head. "No. You don't." Anger began to well up in her as Elsword gave her a sympathetic look, a look of pity. "Don't look at me like that..." She whispered. Elsword tilted his head. "Like what?" Eve hated those eyes, the ones that looked down at her like she was some sort of pitifully wounded animal that would never see the light of day. She hated it. "Listen, Steele... You've probably got nothing to complain about, if your problem is just about some make-up brand or bag. Stop sighing already and go complain to your parents about it, okay?" That pitying look was plastered over his face, and Eve hated it. Rage got the better of her, and she stood up, her hands slamming into the table, her hair flying backwards, revealing her golden eyes, glittering with anger and pain. "YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT ME! STOP... _ASSUMING_ THAT YOU KNOW ME INSIDE OUT BECAUSE OF SOME STUPID STEREOTYPES ABOUT WOMEN! WE AREN'T ALL THE SAME, YOU KNOW! YOU INSENSITIVE JERK!" With that, Eve slapped Elsword firmly across the face, collected her things, and stormed out of the classroom, ignoring the fact that it was the middle of the last period. Elsword held his cheek gingerly, where a bright red hand print was beginning to form, his eyes wide open as he stared at Eve leaving the classroom. "Eve Steele, huh..."

The next day, Eve meekly slunk into the classroom. Dark circles fell underneath her eyes. She was unable to sleep the other night, her argument with Elsword brought back bad memories and plagued her sleep with nightmares. Shaking more hair into her face, Eve shifted uncomfortably under the stares of her classmates. They were obviously shocked that a quiet girl who tried everything to not be noticed, such as herself, would yell in such an uncontrollable rage like she had. Sinking into her seat, she heard a familiar voice. "Yo. What's up?" Turning her head ever so slightly, she stared at Elsword, utterly shocked. "Elsword..." Elsword nodded. "Yup, that's me." He chuckled. "Surprised to see me?" Eve looked away. "I... Aren't you... mad?" Elsword had to lean in, since her voice was so quiet and timid. He shook his head. "Not at all. In fact, I probably deserved that. I wasn't in the greatest of moods the other day, and I guess I kinda vented it on the first person I saw, who happened to be you. Sorry." He rubbed his cheek lightly. "But, you do hit really hard!" Eve felt herself begin to flush. "...Sorry..." Elsword sighed. "I already told you it was fine, Steele." Eve nodded, and returned to staring at her desk. Elsword sighed, seating himself next to her. "So, what do you do in your spare time?" Eve looked up slightly. "..." Elsword sighed. "Steele, I'm talking to you." Eve shrugged, and looked back down at her desk. "You don't talk much, do you?" "..." Elsword rolled his eyes, exasperated, and then leaned forward, lowering his voice to a low whisper. "You have really pretty eyes, you know... Don't cover them up so much." Eve's head shot up in surprise, and she stared at him incredulously. "You... you're joking... aren't you?" Elsword shook his head. "Not many people are blessed with such beautiful gold eyes. Show them off, you look a lot better without the mop of hair in front of your face." Eve stayed quiet. "Move your seat." Elsword tilted his head, surprised. "What?" Eve looked up, and Elsword could see her gold eyes peaking through the strands of silver hair. "You heard me, move. You're inhibiting my ability to learn." Elsword smirked. "Because you said that, I'm going to sit here for the rest of the year." Eve sighed, and continued to stare at her desk. "You're no fun to talk to, Steele. Did you know that?" "..." He was greeted by silence. Sighing, Elsword leaned back in his chair.

As science class came around, the last period of the day, the teacher, a silver-haired woman who always wore goggles named Echo called both Eve and Elsword over. "Elsword, your science grades have been doing very poorly." Elsword grumbled. "It's not my fault that I don't understand any of this stuff..." Echo nodded. "That's why Echo wants Eve to tutor Elsword. You will do it, right Eve?" Eve dipped her head ever so slightly, in something that Elsword came to recognize as a nod. Echo clasped her hands together. "Good. Thanks, Eve." When they were both seated, Elsword turned to look at Eve. "Do you want to come to my place, or should I come to yours?" "..." Elsword rolled his eyes. "You have to say something." "..." "Your place it is, then. "...!" Eve looked at him with shock. Elsword grinned. "You never specified where you wanted to tutor me, so I'll be following you home later. Okay?" Eve sighed, grudgingly nodding her head. After school, Eve collected her things and carefully placed them in her bag, walking out the door as quickly as she could. Hearing footsteps behind her, Eve sighed, realizing that Elsword was serious about following her home. Walking up to her apartment building, she heard Elsword mutter a few things about her family's choice of housing. Feeling her heart tighten, Eve clenched her teeth and walked up the stairs - the elevator was broken. Walking down the familiar path, Eve turned to the fifth door on the right, unlocking it, and stepped in.

"Well? You followed me all the way home, might as well come in." Elsword nodded grudgingly, cautiously entering her house. "Hello?" Eve laughed, quietly but bitterly. "No one else is home." He looked around. "It's quite dirty." Eve glared at him through her hair. "I'm sorry for not having any time to clean. You're lucky you came on the day where I don't have any part-time work to do." The pieces seemed to click in Elsword's head. "You live alone?" Eve nodded. "Of course I do..." Elsword strode across the small apartment, looking at the faded photos of a pretty woman with long silver hair and sparkling blue eyes, and a fairly well-built albeit slim man with white-blonde hair and gold eyes. "Your parents?" Eve nodded. "Where are they? If you don't mind me asking, that is..." Eve felt tears pricking in her eyes, but decided to answer his question anyways. "Heaven." He blinked in surprise. Now it made sense to him, why Eve had gotten so mad when he told her to go complain about the stupid little things to her parents. She didn't have any, that's why. He placed his hand gently on her shoulder, feeling his heart sink when she flinched. "I'm sorry... that comment about complaining to your parents, I... I didn't know, and-" Eve cut him off. "It's fine, stop apologizing. Now, what did you need help in science with?" Elsword sighed, but decided to let go of that subject.

Over the next week, Elsword continued to go over to Eve's house for studying. Elsword realized that Eve was suffering from trauma and depression over loosing both her parents, and was very cautious about what he said. Eve began to grow used to Elsword's presence, albeit unwanted, and gradually grew slightly more relaxed around him. But dreams - no, nightmares - kept resurfacing, of the life she tried to abandon, of the life that she didn't want. Soon, they got worse and worse, until Eve could barely sleep at all. And then came the week when Elsword was sick, and the new girls in the school, Lucy and Rosean, were soon upon her, making her life living hell. "Why does Elsword always talk with you? He's much more suited to a beautiful girl like me rather than some sickly trash bag like you." Lucy giggled, nodding her head in agreement of Rosean. "I don't see why he talks to you at all, I mean you're ugly, depressing, and just overall an old hag. Even Vapor, who's much older than you, looks younger! Elsword should just ditch you in a hole somewhere." Rosean nodded, flipping her purple tresses over her shoulder. "You belong in a hole, just die already, bitch." Then came the letters, and the water being poured into her locker, then the pins in her gyms shoes and cut up gym clothes, then needles and threatening notes in her pencil case. Of course, Eve knew exactly who was causing her all this grief, but she didn't tell anyone. It wasn't like they'd believe her, anyways, or they'd even care. She didn't have proof, either. Soon, it got so bad that Eve couldn't even come to school, but the threats kept pouring into her mailbox, and nasty items, like dead frogs or earthworms in dirt, were being mailed to her constantly. Enough was enough. Eve just wanted to end it all already.

Elsword was concerned. No, concerned was an understatement. Elsword was frantic He hadn't seen Eve since he was sick, and the two new girls, Lucy and Rosean, kept sticking to him like he was a magnet. After school ended, he grabbed his things, pushed past both Lucy and Rosean, and dashed straight over to Eve's apartment. Reaching her door, he rang the doorbell. No answer. Trying the door, he was shocked to find it unlocked. Dashing in, he went straight to Eve's bedroom, only to find her seated on her bed, a knife in her trembling hand, poised over her heart. Raising the blade to strike, Eve didn't even notice Elsword come in. Dashing over, Elsword knocked the knife out of her hand, cutting himself in the process. Gathering her up in a tight hug, he began to shout. "WHY WOULD YOU EVEN TRY TO DO THAT?! ARE YOU CRAZY?! DON'T SCARE ME LIKE THAT EVER AGAIN!" Eve began to weep, struggling to get out of his grasp. "Let me go..." Elsword shook his head. "No. Why would you try to do that?" Eve sobbed, and began to explain everything.

It started with an abusive mother, who was kind and loving one minute, angry and hurting the next. Then her mother died, leaving her with a police officer father who tried to give her everything, but ended up getting drunk at a bar every Saturday and ended up pouring all his feelings out to his daughter, mostly how he blamed himself for his wife's death. Eventually, Eve ended up in a gang, only for a little bit, relieving her stress through defeating opponents. After being kicked out of her gang after they discovered her police officer of a father, Eve wallowed in her despair until she made a good friend. That good friend died of cancer, and was immediately followed by her father, who was killed in action by a stray bullet fired from a crazed kidnapper - who held the brother of Eve's good friend hostage. He died too. That threw her into the deepest depths of despair yet, and just as she was beginning to come out, Lucy and Rosean came along, driving her over the edge.

Elsword had no idea that Eve had such a harsh life, but he was even more enraged with himself for not helping her out earlier. Elsword brushed a few stray strands of hair out of Eve's eyes. "Hey... Look at me." Looking up through her bangs, Eve didn't see a hated look of pity on Elsword's face, but a look of sorrow. "Don't try to kill yourself again, okay?" It was at that moment that their eyes connected. Elsword bent down slightly, bringing Eve into a sweet, gentle kiss, cupping one cheek in his hand. Eve's eyes widened in shock, but closed her eyes and shyly kissed back, savoring the moment. Pulling away, Eve sighed, resting her head on Elsword's chest. "I love you," Elsword said. Eve looked up in surprise. "You love me? But I'm just... me. Out of all the flowers in the garden, you chose the trampled flower. No one remembers the name of the forgotten trampled flowers." Elsword chuckled. "I've loved you since the day you yelled at me. I guess I fell in love with your eyes first." Smiling, Elsword bent down to kiss her forehead.

"I remember the name of the trampled flower. Her name is Eve." Oh, how Elsword couldn't wait to see the faces of Rosean and Lucy when he and Eve came to school the next day, hands intertwined.

* * *

Ara: *looking through a pair of binocular* AHA! We've spotted the rare, elusive creature called 'Rosamanelle...' :O

Chung: She's in her natural habitat, the emo corner.

Elsword: This particular Rosamanelle has made herself a bean bag nest!

Aisha: Look! She has some food! The Rosamanelle's natural prey is the 'Pringles chips' and today, we get to see one feeding! :D

*me in an emo corner, sitting on a bean bag, eating Pringles*

Rena: ...The sad thing is that Rosa's pretty much a rare species now...

Raven: She stole my emo corner...

Eve: *watching Discovery channel* Yes, readers, these are the conditions your favorite creepy author works in.

Me: *comes out of emo corner* ARA, CHUNG, ELSWORD, AISHA! NO MORE DISCOVERY CHANNEL FOR YOU!

Ara: Run! The Rosamanelle has a terrible temper, and is a vicious beast! *runs* Q.Q

Me: COME BACK HERE SO I CAN BEHEAD YOU WITH MY GUILLOTINE!

Rena: Don't forget to R&R, everyone~

Raven: Rosa likes reviews...

Love y'all! Chu~

(P.S: Sorry if I kill off the Elgang before anyone else can finish their stories. Don't worry, I have backups.)


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